In present practice, guidance and obstacle detection for shuttle cars and like vehicles are generally provided by the operator himself through simple visual observation. Electronic detection systems can also be used for this purpose. Systems presently available suffer a number of disadvantages, partly because of the unique demands of shuttle car guidance and obstacle detecting. Examples of optical radar systems which are comparable to that of the present invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,341,708,; 3,402,630 and 3,545,561, although this listing is not, nor is it represented to be, exhaustive.